"Thelma" Review
*avoid if you're prone to epileptic seizures
I kind of went into this expecting it to be the new "Let the Right One In". Although Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt's supernatural coming-of-age queer drama "Thelma" is a great companion piece to the aforementioned romantic coming-of-age vampire drama, it's not nearly as polished or as intriguing as that. Sure, it's not fair for me to compare it to LTROI so I'll say that Thelma is very predictable but doesn't shy away from exploring its complicated conflicts such as being a young woman in love with another young woman while being restricted by one's religious upbringing. Without going into spoilers, the movie makes these emotional arcs matter by taking its time with its main characters. We want to see these two people together and although the beats are predictable and the symbolism is on-the-nose, the emotional impact is still there.
What's more tragic than our protagonist is how the movie haphazardly forces the audience to suspend all logic and disbelief in order for its ending to make sense. Which it ultimately doesn't.